Sit/Asana

Although in the the world of  Yoga we use the Sanskrit word asana to mean pose, the literal translation is acually seat or sit.  The word asana is tacked on to the end of almost every yoga pose in Sanskrit.  Downward Facing Dog in the ancient yogic language of Sanskrit is Adho Mukha Svanasana, the word for forward bend in Sanskrit is Uttanasana,  Cobra Pose is Bhujangasana…  you get the the picture.

The reason the word asana is so prevalent in our traditional yoga practice is because the whole purpose of yoga is to still the fluctuations of the mind allowing us to sit peacefully in meditation.  Asana, seat, sit.  Sit.  Since most people don’t spend as much time thinking about, writing about and spending time with dogs like I do,  you probably didn’t have the same eureka moment that I did when I realized that ”sit” is the first trick most dogs learn.   How cool is it that we teach our dogs to be in their asana?

After they learn sit we often teach then to stay in their seat.  I often use sit to divert my dog’s attention away from potential drama  (squirrel, cat,ect).  This takes some practice and focus of attention, just as our meditiation seat takes practice. 

When we teach our dog to stay in their seat, we start by just taking a couple of steps away from them and we work up to keeping them in the sit/ stay as we lengthen the time and distance . 

 In doga class I can usually put Gus and/or Honey in a stay on the doga mat, using a hand signal so I can move around the class room If I need to.  Of course this is’nt fail proof, sometimes they can’t resist the temptation to get off the mat.  But for the most part they are pretty good in their seat.

  It’s just like when we meditate, some days,  we are right there and other days it’s tough to focus the mind and the breath and to sit still.   Just remember be patient with yourself like you are with your dog when teaching him a  trick..  And just like teaching our dogs,  learning anything new takes practice and consistency.